1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the general field of ligatures which are clamping devices utilized for holding of a reed in place with respect to a clarinet or saxophone and in particular with respect to the clarinet or saxophone mouthpiece. Prior art ligatures utilize wide bands for securing of the reed at one or more locations with respect to the mouthpiece. It has been found that these wide ligatures tend to restrict the vibrational characteristics of the reed which is extremely important when utilized with such woodwind instruments.
Within the field of art of the present invention there were are many ligature designs which hold a reed firmly to the mouthpiece. However, a need has arisen for the use of a reed retaining ligature which provides additional freedom of movement of the reed to vibrate during operation of the woodwind musical instrument with as little dampening as possible in order to render a full rich sound.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many designs have been patented for providing a ligature for woodwind instruments such as U.S. Pat. No. 555,561 issued Mar. 3, 1896 to G. R. Cadwallader on a "Reed Supporter For Clarinets"; and U.S. Pat. No. 1,496,535 issued Jun. 3, 1924 to F. B. Hammann on a "Toy"; and U.S. Pat. No. 1,535,537 issued Apr. 28, 1925 to W. Majeski on an "Adjustable Reed In Wind Instruments"; and U.S. Pat. No. 1,615,549 issued Jan. 25, 1927 to B. Miller on a "Mouthpiece For Reed Instruments"; and U.S. Pat. No. 1,896,814 issued Feb. 7, 1933 to W. Gemeinhardt on a "Mouthpiece Of Wind Musical Instruments"; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,193,976 issued Mar. 19, 1940 to C. B. Malbon on an "Adjustable Reed For Wind Instruments"; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,318,515 issued May 4, 1943 to J. C. Nemcek, Jr. on a "Reed"; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,648,246 issued Aug. 11, 1953 to W. W. Mueller on a "Ligature For Musical Instruments"; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,669,897 issued Feb. 23, 1954 to J. Topor on a "Reed For Musical Instruments"; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,837,003 issued Jun. 3, 1958 to J. Collis on a "Mouthpiece And Ligature For Reed Instruments"; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,250,753 issued Sep. 14, 1965 to R. L. Luyben on a "Ligature For Reed Instruments"; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,433,113 issued Mar. 18, 1969 to B. A Portnoy on "Ligatures Or Reed Holders For Single-Reed Musical Wind Instruments"; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,564,965 issued Feb. 23, 1971 to J. Carlini et al on a "Ligature For Reed Musical Instrument"; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,890,873 issued Jun. 24, 1975 to R. Harrison on a "Ligature"; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,056,997 issued Nov. 8, 1977 to P. Rovner on a "Reed Holding Device For Musical Instruments"; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,080,866 issued Mar. 28, 1978 to M. Toof on a "Ligature Means And A Method Of Securing A Reed In A Wind Instrument"; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,172,482 issued Oct. 30, 1979 to H. Gomez on a "Method And Apparatus For Adjusting Single Reeds For Musical Instruments"; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,185,535 issued Jan. 29, 1980 to R. Lorenzini on a "Reed-Holding Device"; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,210,055 issued Jul. 1, 1980 to V. Platamone, Jr. on an "Adjustable Ligature For Musical Instrument"; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,258,604 issued Mar. 31, 1981 to D. Giokas on a "Ligature"; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,275,636 issued Jun. 30, 1981 to B. Van Doren on "Ties For The Mouthpiece Of A Wind Instrument"; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,296,668 issued Oct. 27, 1981 to R. Lorenzini on a "Reed Protector For A Woodwind Instrument"; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,347,776 issued Sep. 7, 1982 to K. Grass et al on an "O-Ring Ligature"; and U.S. Pat. No. 277,967 issued Mar. 12, 1985 to G. Gholson, Jr. on a "Clarinet Ligature"; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,615,616 issued Oct. 7, 1986 to Y. Shiomi on a "Measuring Distance Apparatus"; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,669,352 issued Jun. 2, 1987 to S. Bichon on a "Tying Device For The Mouth Piece Of A Wind Instrument"; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,796,507 issued Jan. 10, 1989 to T. Stibai on a "Reed Holding Device"; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,941,385 issued Jul. 17, 1990 to C. Johnson on a "Tone Plate And Clamping Device For A Musical Instrument Mouthpiece"; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,991,483 issued Feb. 12, 1991 to R. Petit on a "Mouthpiece For Wind Instrument, And Corresponding Ligature And Mouthpiece Cover"; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,073 issued Mar. 19, 1991 to D. Hite on a "Construction For Supporting A Reed Upon The Mouthpiece Of A Musical Wind Instrument And Method Of Fabricating The Same"; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,018,425 issued May 28, 1991 to P. Rovner on a "Mouthpiece System For Woodwind Instruments"; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,350 issued Jul. 23, 1991 to A. Galper on a "Single Reed Mouthpiece"; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,701 issued Apr. 21, 1992 to J. Hall et al on a "Clarinet Mouthpiece".